Sooners at Iowa State on Saturday

NORMAN – Oklahoma men's basketball opens its two-game road swing at Iowa State on Saturday, Feb.25. Tip is at 11 a.m. inside Hilton Coliseum.

Saturday's game against the Cyclones will be broadcast on ESPNU with Pete Sousa and Lance Blanks on the call. Fans may also listen on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry announcing.

In Oklahoma's last outing, Tanner Groves recorded a team-best 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Groves tallied a pair of 3-pointers and added six rebounds and two steals. Jalen Hill recorded 14 points, four rebounds, a team-best four assists and two steals. Milos Uzan and Grant Sherfield added 10 points apiece. The Sooners fell to Texas Tech 74-63 on Tuesday, Feb. 21.

SCOUTING THE CYCLONES

T.J. Otzelberger is in his second season as Iowa State head men's basketball coach and has led the No. 23/21 Cyclones to a 17-10 overall record and an 8-7 mark in the Big 12. Otzelberger had previous stops as a head coach at South Dakota State and UNLV.

Jaren Holmes leads a trio of double-digit scorers and averages 13.1 points, 3.2 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game. Holmes is shooting 39.0% (129-331) from the field and 35.1% (34-97) from three. Gabe Kalscheur adds 12.3 points and a team-high 1.5 steals per outing. Caleb Grill averages 10.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest. Osun Osunniyi wrangles a team-best 4.9 boards per game and Tamin Lipsey dishes out a team-high 4.7 assists per contest. Holmes, Osunniyi and Lipsey have started all 27 games.

Iowa State is ranked in the top 100 in eight NCAA DI categories. ISU is 13th in turnovers forced per game (17.0), 15th in steals per game (9.1), 16th in turnover margin (3.9), 18th in scoring defense (62.0), 72nd in field goal percentage defense (41.8%), 78th in scoring margin (7.0), 87th in offensive rebounds per game (11.2) and 92nd in assists per game (14.4).

IOWA STATE CONNECTIONS

Doc Sadler, Oklahoma's special advisor to the head coach, served as an assistant coach at Iowa State under Fred Hoberg in 2013-14. The Cyclones finished 28-8 , won the Big 12 Tournament title and advanced to the Sweet 16.

Clayton Custer, OU's director of video operations and player development, played for the Cyclones in 2014-15 before transferring to Loyola Chicago to play for Porter Moser. Custer appeared in 12 games for the Cyclones and averaged 1.1 points in 5.8 minutes per outing.

CSC ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT TEAM

Tanner and Jacob Groves were named to the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District Team. T. Groves is pursuing a Master of Arts in organizational leadership degree and earned his undergraduate degree in interdisciplinary studies at Eastern Washington. The Spokane, Wash., product, was named to the 2021-22 CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team. J. Groves is pursuing an undergraduate degree in sports business.

RANKING SUMMARY

Oklahoma is ranked in the top 100 in three NCAA Division I categories. OU is 37th in 3-point percentage defense (30.8), 73rd in field goal percentage (46.5%) and 85th in effective field goal percentage (53.0%). The Sooners are third in the conference in 3-point percentage defense, 3-point percentage (35.0%), defensive rebounds per game (25.1), fouls per game (16.2) and effective field goal percentage.

Grant Sherfield is 28th nationally in 3-point percentage (41.3%), 62nd in free throw percentage (85.6%), 68th in 3-pointers per game (2.64) and 68th in 3-pointers made (74). Sherfield is first in the league in 3-pointers made and 3-pointers per game. He is second 3-point percentage and third in free throw percentage. Jalen Hill is fifth in the league in free throw percentage (82.8%). Tanner Groves is 89th in the nation and fourth in the league in defensive rebounds per game (5.8).

Sherfield is 27th among active NCAA Division I career leaders in scoring average (15.4), 27th in assists (519), 29th in assist average (4.63) and 37th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.84). Sherfield is one of 15 active DI players with 1,700-plus points and 500-plus assists. Groves is 79th in career rebounds (731) and 91st in games played (145).

UP NEXT

The Sooners continue their two-game road swing at Kansas State on Wednesday, March 1. Tip is at 7 p.m. inside Bramlage Coliseum.

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Players Mentioned

Jacob Groves

Tanner Groves

Jalen Hill

Grant Sherfield

Milos Uzan

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics